Great effort comes up just short for Pirates
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley (6-2-2, 1-0-2) | 2 | 2 | 4 |
|
Orange Coast (0-8-3, 0-2-1) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- A back-and-forth battle between the Orange Coast College men's soccer team and visiting Irvine Valley finished in favor of the guests as a last-minute goal propelled the Lasers to a 4-3 Orange Empire Conference win over the host Pirates on Tuesday at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Coast got on the scoreboard first when Grayson Marquez fought through a pair of Laser defenders and coaxed the ball past charging Lasers' goalkeeper Josh Simonton and into the back of the net in the 25th minute, putting the Pirates up, 1-0.
But back-to-back goals from IVC's Grant Miller off a Pirate turnover and a penalty kick goal by Ivan Lopez gave IVC a 2-1 lead at the break.
Just four minutes into the second half a long throw-in from Hope Saito found its way to the leg of Randy Arciga, who ripped a shot into the net to even the match at 2.
Irvine Valley, who started the match with back-to-back ties to start OEC play, regained a one-goal advantage with a tally from Christopher Camarena in the 60th minute.
OCC continued to fight and in the 84th minute, a nice touch-pass from Devin La Clair found a streaking Yoskue Yokota, who one-timed a pass into the box, where Floresta Damiano ripped a perfect shot past Simonton to level the match at 3-3.
But just two minutes later, Camarena sent a pass into a dangerous area and IVC's Grant Miller didn't miss, putting the Lasers up for good.
It was a strong effort from OCC goalkeeper Michael Matzuy, who made several key saves during the match to keep the Pirates in the contest and finished with seven stops overall, while Simonton finished with four saves for the Lasers.
OCC will return to action on Friday at Golden West College, beginning at 3 p.m. Coast's next home match will take place on Friday, Oct. 13 against Santiago Canyon, also at 3 p.m.
